Try art therapy for a creative way to manage stress, depression and more

posted in: Society | 0

Hunter Boyce | (TNS) The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ATLANTA — Since ancient Greece, healers have prescribed art to aid those facing mental challenges. Today, the practice is a precisely honed craft used by credentialed professionals to help people suffering from PTSD, stress, depression and more.

So whether you want to pick up a paint brush or lace up some dancing shoes, art therapy is here to help. Here’s what you need to know to get started.

What are the kinds of art therapy?

Art therapy can take many forms, and the practice does not require much creative skill to work. The medium of art used in therapy will differ based on each patient’s needs.

“In art therapy sessions, your art therapist may encourage you to try different art media such as color pencils, paints, clay, and collage,” according to the American Art Therapy Association. “Sometimes non-traditional art materials (e.g. tree branches and leaves) are intentionally introduced to you in order to expand your creative expression. You may also explore different styles of expression, using doodling, abstract designs, and contour drawing. Art therapists are trained to facilitate a type of art making for your specific needs.”

Will art therapy work for you?

Research reviewers Heather Stuckey, D.Ed., and Jeremy Nobel, M.D., M.P.H., concluded in their study that art therapy “complements the biomedical view by focusing on not only sickness and symptoms themselves but the holistic nature of the person.”

Through that practice, art therapy is used to aid a wide range of patients, including those suffering from cancer and military veterans with PTSD.

Anyone dealing with mental challenges, such as stress, can potentially benefit — particularly health care workers.

Researchers with the Colorado Resiliency Arts Lab spent three years completing six cohort studies on the efficacy of art therapy with health care workers. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups: art, music, dance/movement and writing.

They then engaged in 90-minute sessions of creative activity as the researchers measured their levels of anxiety, depression, burnout, PTSD and job satisfaction.

“The results were eye-opening,” University of Colorado professor of medicine Marc Moss and CORAL program manager Rafaela Mantelli told the Conversation. “Study participants experienced less burnout and expressed a lower desire to leave their jobs. Burnout scores for anxiety, depression, PTSD and emotional exhaustion decreased by 28%, 36%, 26% and 12%, respectively, in the participants receiving the creative arts therapy intervention. These improvements remained up to one year after the conclusion of the program.”

How do I start art therapy?

The American Art Therapy Association’s health care professional locator features a dozen Georgia art therapists, including several in the Atlanta area. Visit arttherapy.org/art-therapist-locator/ to find one near you.

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If you’re considering a credit card, bonus-friendly season is here

posted in: News | 0

By Melissa Lambarena | NerdWallet

In late 2017, San Francisco couple Riley Adams and his wife stumbled upon the Halley’s comet of airline credit card welcome offers. For a limited time, the card was advertising a companion pass on top of a large sign-up bonus.

“We knew we had a lot of spending in one specific area coming up, and we wanted to try to shop around to get the best value for those needs,” says Adams, a certified public accountant, financial adviser and owner of the blog Young and the Invested. “If you plan for it, you can really offset those costs [with a sign-up bonus].”

If you’re considering a new credit card, the bonus-friendly season from October through December is an ideal time. Your expenses on Black Friday, holiday travel and meals, end-of-the-year charitable donations and more may easily meet a large spending requirement for a juicy sign-up bonus.

Here’s what to know about such offers.

Timing a credit card bonus

A sign-up bonus is a one-time incentive offered by rewards credit cards on top of any ongoing cash back, points or miles on purchases. Snagging a bonus typically requires spending between $500 and several thousand dollars within a certain time — often three months — after you’re approved for the card.

That level of spending may not be difficult during the holiday season. In 2023, consumers planned to spend $875, on average, on gifts, decorations, food and other key seasonal items, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey.

Even if your expenses aren’t entirely holiday-related, a little planning can still help you reap a windfall that you can use the following holiday season. You can earn a sign-up bonus toward travel or use it toward other expenses.

The Adamses, for example, mapped out a budget before applying for that airline credit card with the generous bonus. They met its spending requirement primarily by paying for Riley’s wife’s work-related expenses in 2017; they then put what they earned toward holiday travel the next year.

“We used it all of 2018 to visit family for holidays — Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas — plus two domestic trips for [our] own purposes, and then flying to a major hub for an international flight on our one-year anniversary,” Adams says.

Have the money on hand

It’s not worth spending money you don’t have just to chase a large bonus. If you can’t pay your credit card bill in full each month, interest charges will eat away at any rewards you accrue.

But if you’ve saved up a holiday fund, you can gift yourself a rich introductory credit card offer while you’re at it.

Other factors to keep in mind

As you size up a rewards credit card and its sign-up bonus, ask yourself these questions:

Can you meet the card’s credit requirements? You’ll generally need good credit (a FICO score of 690 or higher) to qualify for a rewards card with a big bonus.
Are you willing to pay an annual fee? The top cards — those with the highest bonuses, richest rewards and best perks — charge annual fees. If you don’t think you’ll earn enough in rewards and benefits to outweigh that fee, consider a no-annual-fee rewards card. Many of them also offer bonuses.
Do the card’s rewards categories match your expenses? A sign-up bonus can offer a chunk of upfront value, but the card won’t be useful long term if its ongoing rewards and perks don’t fit your habits.
Are you eligible for the bonus? Check the card’s terms. For example, you may not be able to earn a bonus if you’ve already received one from the same issuer recently.
Can you meet the spending requirement for the bonus with your current budget? If you know you can’t spend $4,000 in three months without going into debt, look for a bonus with a lower spending threshold.
Will you pay your bill in full every month to avoid interest? Rewards cards tend to have high ongoing APRs, meaning you don’t want to carry a balance month to month. If you’re already struggling with debt, a rewards credit card may not be ideal for you.

Melissa Lambarena writes for NerdWallet. Email: mlambarena@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @LissaLambarena.

Top basketball recruit Tommy Ahneman of Cretin-Derham Hall commits to Notre Dame

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The Gophers men’s basketball team didn’t get a chance to host the top in-state prospect in the 2025 recruiting class on an official visit.

North Dakota native and new Cretin-Derham Hall transfer Tommy Ahneman committed to Notre Dame on Monday.

The 6-foot-10, 235-pound player had completed a visit to the Fighting Irish in South Bend, Ind., last weekend. He was scheduled to be at the U this weekend, after going to Nebraska and Iowa in recent weeks.

“I chose Notre Dame because of what they have — a great atmosphere, great people and a great recruiting class that I now get to be a part of,” Ahneman told On3.com.

Ahneman transferred to the St. Paul private school from Sheyenne High School in West Fargo, N.D., after he was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year and won a Class 2A state championship last season. He averaged 20.3 points and 13.3 rebounds a year ago.

Ahneman, who is considered a four-star prospect and top 60 player in the nation, had more scholarship offers from Wisconsin, Penn State, Northwestern and others.

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The US is sending a few thousand more troops to the Middle East to boost security

posted in: Politics | 0

By TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is sending a “few thousand” troops to the Middle East to bolster security and to defend Israel if necessary, the Pentagon said Monday. The announcement follows word that Israel has already launched limited raids across the border into Lebanon.

The additional forces would raise the total number of troops in the region to as many as 43,000.

The increased presence will involve multiple fighter jet and attack aircraft squadrons, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters. U.S. officials said the total includes small numbers of other troops to augment the presence as well.

It follows recent strikes in Lebanon and the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, a significant escalation in the war in the Middle East, this time between Israel and Hezbollah.

The additional personnel includes squadrons of F-15E, F-16, and F-22 fighter jets and A-10 attack aircraft, and the personnel needed to support them. The jets were supposed to rotate in and replace the squadrons already there. Instead, both the existing and new squadrons will remain in place to double the airpower on hand.

On Sunday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that he was temporarily extending the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and its embarked air wing in the region. A U.S. official said the extension will be for about a month. A second carrier, the USS Harry S. Truman, departed Virginia last week and is enroute to Europe. It will head to the Mediterranean Sea and will again provide a two-carrier presence in the broader region. It’s not expected to arrive for at least another week.

At the White House, President Joe Biden said Monday that “I’m more aware than you might know” about reports that Israel is planning a limited ground incursion into Lebanon after nearly a year of fighting with Hezbollah, and said he wants a cease-fire immediately. Asked about the reports, Biden said, “I’m more aware than you might know, and I’m comfortable with them stopping. We should have a cease-fire now.”

___

Zeke Miller contributed from Washington.